1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to baby seats or infant carriers and more particularly, is concerned with improvements to infant carriers which greatly enhances the comfort of an infant and greatly enhances the portability of such devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Infant carriers are a common product used by parents to transport their infants from place to place and more particularly to lay the infants to rest, sleep, feed, or play. The period of time which the infant is confined to a carrier can vary from a few moments to a few hours depending upon the circumstances of portability. The comfort level during the time of confinement to a carrier depends to a large extent on the construction of the carrier, and more specifically to the infant supporting means employed in the construction of the carrier. Presently, the infant supporting means employed in infant carriers is typically an uncomfortable, solid seat back which is an integral part of the total carrier. Although attempts have been made to impart cushioning to the seat back, such efforts have not added to the the seat back of a carrier the type of resiliency required to give an infant the total comfort deserving during the confinement. Also, the portability of present carriers is generally very awkward due to the incorporating of supporting stand structure which will add features to allow attachment to some other object such as an adult chair or the back of a car seat, such structure will typically interfere with the natural manner in which a parent will carefully and lovingly pick up the infant and will generally add weight to the carrier or be of such lightweight construction as to be of questionable safety to the infant. Additionally, the carriers utilizing the awkward supporting stand structure are not suitably adapted to allow a parent to very caringly pick up the carrier with the infant.
Various types of infant carriers are known to attempt enhancement of comfort to infants confined to them. One such carrier is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,688 to A. J. Ouellette. The Ouellette patent discloses a baby seat wherein the infant supporting means is a one-piece body of flexible resilient sheet material suitably formed to provide the sides, bottom and seat back. The seat back has an offset central portion which is perforated and thus provides a cushioned back and results in overall reduction in weight. The offset portion may be contoured to accommodate an infant's body in attempt to add to the comfort of the infant seat. Similar cushioning is observed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,986 to L. B. Ragsdale wherein the inner shell member is a plastic material and has a back portion provided with a plurality of transverse ribs which serve as cushioning means for a baby. Other comfort enhancement are typically like those described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,339 to R. B. Heath wherein an infant carrier has a seat back and seat portions lined with ribs and apertures of resilient energy absorbing material. Additionally, various types of infant carriers have improved on the portability. One such improvement is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,556 to E. Rocker wherein the support stand is made adjustable to support the carrier in one of several open positions. The baby seat is suitably constructed to receive the adjustable support stand. Similar portability improvements are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,936 to D. L. Gerken, wherein a wire support is selectively received in pluralities of sockets and clips on the back wall of the carrier to provide different angles of tilt.
However, although there have been efforts to improve on the comfort level of an infant while confined to an infant carrier, such efforts are believed to fall short of the type of comfort which an infant deserves while confined to such a device. The Ouellette, Ragsdale and the Heath patents have the disadvantage of not being able to engulf an infant in comfort due to the integral construction of the back portion with the other portions of the carrier. Another disadvantage is that the portability is not conducive to a gentle lifting of the carrier due to the interference of the supporting stand and or the associated structure which is molded to the main body of the carrier. The Rocker and the Gerken patents, while improving on the portability with respect to the angle of recline, fail to improve on that aspect of portability which would allow a parent to gently lift the carrier with the infant.
Consequently, a need exists for improvement in infant carriers which will result in an increased comfort with respect to the infant supporting means used and more particularly in improvements in infant supporting means which will provide comfort with regards to a resilient fit, body temperature and angle of recline. Additionally, a need exists to combine the comfort improvements with improvements of portability which will allow a parent to gently, lovingly, and caringly lift an infant laying in the carrier.